Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection Course
Online 300-hour course in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection. 6 modules covering Law 8/2011 on the protection of critical infrastructure, Royal Decree 704/2011 Regulation on the protection of critical infrastructure and ArcGIS Pro. Assigned tutor and open enrolment.
Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection Course — studying from New Zealand
Civil engineering is one of New Zealand's largest engineering employers, driven by the need for earthquake-resilient infrastructure, roading, water and wastewater systems across a seismically active country. Major projects include Auckland's City Rail Link and Wellington's transport upgrades, with rail maintained largely by KiwiRail. Engineers work for consultancies, contractors and councils, and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment administers the Building Act and related standards, while Waka Kotahi manages the national land transport network.
Fees for New Zealand: NZ$1,280 (New Zealand dollar), with instalments and employer sponsorship available.
Relevant bodies in New Zealand
Typical roles
Questions from New Zealand
What is the recognition pathway for civil and rail engineers in New Zealand?
Engineering New Zealand administers Chartered Professional Engineer registration, which is the main recognised professional standard for civil engineers. Rail is regulated through the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and the Ministry of Transport. SEIUM's qualifications are private and not accredited by a national body, so employers or the relevant body decide how much weight to give them.
Who hires civil, rail and smart city engineers in New Zealand?
Employers include city and regional councils, central government agencies, consultancies, contractors, and rail and transport operators. Smart city roles increasingly combine infrastructure knowledge with data and digital systems. Hiring usually depends on registration, experience and project records, so a private qualification is a supporting credential rather than a guaranteed entry point.
Will I need a visa, and how do fees and employer funding work?
No student visa is needed to study from home, because all programmes are 100% online and taught in English. Each programme includes an assigned technical tutor and a final project. Fees are payable in instalments, and employer sponsorship is possible. Master's programmes take 1,900 hours, postgraduate diplomas 800 and specialist courses 300, so check the time commitment against your workload.
Take the controls.
Run a real engineering trade-off from this field. Move the sliders, watch the model react in real time and beat the challenge.
What you will be able to do
Understand the Spanish and European legal framework for the protection of critical infrastructure.
Identify urban critical assets and their dependencies.
Apply integrated security risk analysis methodologies.
Design proportionate and effective physical security measures.
Integrate industrial cybersecurity into asset protection.
Prepare the contents of a specific protection plan.
Assess the resilience of critical entities in line with the CER Directive.
Who it's for
- Security director wishing to specialise in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection.
- Security manager and liaison officer for a critical operator wishing to specialise in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection.
- Infrastructure protection consultant wishing to specialise in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection.
- Integrated security risk analyst wishing to specialise in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection.
- Security officer in public administration wishing to specialise in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection.
- Security systems engineer wishing to specialise in Urban Critical Infrastructure and Its Protection.
- Graduates in engineering or science seeking to enter critical operators in energy, water and transport.
What you'll work with
- Law 8/2011 on the protection of critical infrastructure
- Royal Decree 704/2011 Regulation on the protection of critical infrastructure
- Directive (EU) 2022/2557 on the resilience of critical entities (CER)
- Directive (EU) 2022/2555 NIS2
- Royal Decree 311/2022 National Security Framework
- IEC 62443 Security for industrial automation and control systems
- Law 5/2014 on Private Security
- ISO 31000 Risk management
6 modules · 300 h
1.1Legal definition of critical and strategic infrastructure1.2The twelve strategic sectors of the PIC system1.3National Catalogue of Strategic Infrastructure1.4Critical operators and their obligations1.5Urban infrastructure: nodes, networks and control centres1.6Dependencies between critical assets1.7Physical, natural and technological threats1.8Role of the CNPIC and the administrations1.9CER Directive and the new European framework1.10Case study: identifying critical assets in a district
2.1Risk analysis methodologies for PIC2.2Identification of assets, threats and vulnerabilities2.3Assessment of cascading consequences2.4Criticality analysis and prioritisation2.5Residual risk and acceptance criteria2.6Threat analysis from an academic perspective2.7Vulnerability of substations and pumping stations2.8Risks arising from climate change2.9Integrated physical-logical risk matrices2.10Practical exercise: risk analysis of a treatment plant
3.1Perimeter protection and access control3.2Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED)3.3CCTV and video analytics3.4Intrusion detection systems3.5Secure control and operations centres3.6Physical redundancy and route separation3.7Protection of tunnels and underground spaces3.8Applicable private security regulations3.9Maintenance and verification of security systems3.10Workshop: physical security plan for a control centre
4.1Convergence of physical and logical security4.2SCADA and industrial systems in urban infrastructure4.3National Security Framework and NIS24.4IEC 62443 standard for control systems4.5Incident management and reference CERT4.6Supply chain security4.7Insider threat and personnel management4.8Information sharing with authorities4.9Joint public-private exercises4.10Case study: cyber-physical incident in a water network
5.1Operator Security Plan (PSO)5.2Specific Protection Plan (PPE)5.3Content and approval of the plans5.4Operational support plans of the administrations5.5Permanent and graduated measures by alert level5.6Resilience assessment under the CER Directive5.7Continuity and recovery of essential services5.8Audits and periodic reviews5.9Ethics and proportionality in protection measures5.10Practical exercise: draft specific protection plan
6.1Selection of the urban infrastructure under study6.2Functional description and dependencies6.3Comprehensive risk analysis6.4Definition of physical security measures6.5Associated cybersecurity measures6.6Structure of the protection plan6.7Resilience indicators and monitoring6.8Economic assessment of the measures6.9Report and presentation6.10Final review with the tutor
How you'll learn
Fully 100% online training on the SEIUM campus, with downloadable material, recorded classes and an assigned technical tutor. There are no fixed timetables: students progress at their own pace within the intake, which makes it possible to fit the programme around work.
Each module combines theory, guided reading of the original standard and applied exercises. The working software is ArcGIS Pro, PILAR (CCN-CERT), Genetec Security Center, Milestone XProtect, Microsoft Visio, in free, academic or evaluation versions. Assignments are based on real risk analysis procedures for an urban essential-service infrastructure, the conceptual design of a specific protection plan, and a public-private coordination exercise in response to an incident. Assessment is continuous, module by module, plus a final integrating project.
Build it end to end
Your final project follows the real engineering workflow, step by step, reviewed by your tutor.
Understand the Spanish and European legal framework for the protection of critical infrastructure.
Identify urban critical assets and their dependencies.
Apply integrated security risk analysis methodologies.
Design proportionate and effective physical security measures.
Integrate industrial cybersecurity into asset protection.
Where this takes you
Requirements
- No prior qualification required.
- Internet connection and a computer capable of running the programme's software.
- Sufficient Spanish to follow technical regulatory texts.
Ready to start?
Send your application today. Our admissions team replies within 72 hours with your study plan and funding options.
Frequently asked questions
The programme consists of 300 hours in total, spread over 3 to 5 months. That is between 10 and 15 hours per week on average, compatible with a full-time job.
You work with ArcGIS Pro, PILAR (CCN-CERT), Genetec Security Center, Milestone XProtect and Microsoft Visio. Free, academic or evaluation versions are used, and the tutor indicates the free alternative where one exists.
SEIUM's own diploma upon passing the continuous assessment and the integrating project. It is in-house training, not an official qualification from the Ministry.
Yes. Modules completed in a course or Postgraduate Diploma in the same area are recognised in the higher programme. Check the recognition policy when you enrol.
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